How to Increase Monounsaturated Fat Intake

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A healthy diet that is high in monounsaturated fats may help lower your blood pressure and your triglycerides and raise your high-density lipoprotein, or good cholesterol, according to a study published in "The Journal of the American Medical Association" in November 2005. Use monounsaturated fats to replace some of the saturated fat in your diet to further reduce your risk of heart disease.

Monounsaturated Fats

Monounsaturated fats, or MUFAs, and polyunsaturated fats, or PUFAs, are the two healthy types of fat, since they don't raise your low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol, like saturated fat and trans fat. MUFAs are liquid when at room temperature, although they start to solidify if you store them in the refrigerator.

Recommended Intake

You should limit your total fat intake to no more than 35 percent of your calories per day, and this should include no more than 10 percent each from saturated fat and polyunsaturated, with the remaining 10 to 15 percent or so coming from MUFAs. The less saturated fat you consume, the more MUFAs you can consume while staying within the recommended daily limit for total fat.

Best Sources

Nuts and nut butters, olives and avocados are nutritious sources of MUFAs, since they provide a number of essential nutrients along with these fats. Other good sources of MUFAs include olive oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, canola oil and sunflower oil. Use these oils when making salad dressings and in place of butter, shortening and lard when cooking and baking to increase your MUFA consumption.

Considerations

MUFAs are only likely to improve your health if they are consumed as part of a healthy diet. Don't just add foods containing these fats to your diet; use them to replace less healthy foods like those that are high in saturated fat or that are highly processed. Otherwise, you may end up consuming too many calories and gaining weight.